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Out on the short track, we followed Tripp for a few laps before being let loose to our own devices. His advice to stay in second gear was golden as the big twin has plenty of power and flexibility, and it made the job of negotiating the tight turns a lot easier. The handling is absolutely incredible and the lean angles quite amazing. I had to consciously hang farther off the bike, while holding the bike more upright or the hero blobs would drag, but this happens far beyond any level of sane street riding, so not to worry.

The short course is a little tricky and getting off the brakes to turn is not the easiest thing to do. Try as I might, I ended up trail braking into a few corners and it was a little hectic as the bike wants to immediately stand up. Later in the sessions, I just let off earlier and carried more corner speed as the amazing front end just took everything I threw at it. It didn’t matter how hard I dived into the turns, it never felt anything but totally planted. Later in the day, when Brain J Nelson was shooting some photos, the track was a little wet and the bike was definitely sliding around a little. This just added to the fun, as the chassis never got upset and the bike still felt like it was taking it all in its stride.

Braking duties on both the Buells is a single ZTL, type 6-piston caliper, grabbing a huge 375mm stainless steel floating rotor. Out back is a more conventional 240mm stainless rotor and single piston caliper. A couple of interesting point to note here are; the front wheel and brake assembly is a good six pounds lighter than a Honda RC51’s, and the rotor is not attached to the rim, so denting a rim is not going to bend it and lock up the brake. Yes, Buells’ engineers do think of everything.

After a few sessions on the Motoplex, it was time to pile into the awaiting golf carts and head over to the main track to test the new Firebolt. Looking as stunning as the Lightning with its delicious amber wheels, we were all assigned our bikes, as I mentioned earlier, according to our weight.

We didn’t run the whole four miles at Road America, as there is not too much to be gained by nailing the bike in top down the very long straights. Instead, we ran an abbreviated version on the track that gave a nice blend of high-speed and challenging turns. It also included the famous Carousel which is just too much fun.

Picking the bike up out of turn 8, I accelerated as hard as the big twin would allow up through third, before snicking it into fourth while laying the bike hard over for the turn. Twisting on the throttle, and settling my right knee puck on the tarmac, the Firebolt accelerated all the way through the long, long turn, before it was time to sit up and brake for the second gear bend in between turn 10 and 11. Leaned over at more than 100mph the Buell is rock solid and turns extremely well. I was initially trying to hold too tight of a line, and it asked for a little muscle to hold it in at the end of the turn. But, by allowing the bike to run a little wide onto the short straight it felt just perfect.

Sitting up and hammering on the brakes, before rolling through the new section of track that has been added to slow the bikes down, was just effortless. Right knee grazing the smooth tarmac, it was time to get back on the gas for the long sweeping section of the track known as, “Kettle Bottoms.” This is a beautiful tree covered section that gradually turns left as the motor spins up towards redline in top. Initially I had a bit of problem hitting the rev limiter and missing up shifts. The bike handles so well and carries so much speed, I had to remember it is a big air-cooled twin, not a 600cc supersport, and shift earlier and more deliberately. Once I plugged this into my brain, my speeds instantly increased as the shiny red Firebolt and I began to flow.

Canada Corner was the section of the track that showed my how much faster I was going by my last session. The first couple of times on the track I was coming out of the corner in second, shifting to third before laying the bike over hard to the left under the Billy Mitchell bridge. This was a fun part of the track, the nimble Buell making the transition to full left, off the gas and back over hard right for the cut back to the main track with the such fluid ease, I just couldn’t wait to get back round and do it again.

Third time on the track I had the red beast figured out and coming under the bridge had the throttle twisted in fourth with the bike running on rails. As Kevin Schwantz puts it, I was “in the zone,” and the easy manners of the Buell were certainly the key factor to getting there so soon.

The bike still picked up easily as I got slowed down and into second gear for the turn. This was the corner I had the small problem from the back end, but the Buell was so composed it was never upsetting. Unfortunately, rain stopped play, but not before I had spent enough time in the saddle of the new Buell to come away very impressed.